Go West, Young (or Old)...

Go West, Young (or Old) Man (or Woman)

by Brian Churchman

Welcome to Western Australia. Have some awesome.

Bungle Bungle National Park, formerly known as Purnululu National Park, is a shiny pretty gem placed high on the mantle in Australia’s collection of ludicrous geological formations. And believe me, Australia is chock-full of them.

Chock. Full.

Throwing reality to the wind, the Bungle Bungle (note the singular) is 240,000 hectares of quartz sandstone that rises in orange, black and grey massive beehive formations 200 to 300 meters above the surrounding plains.  The lonely range is peppered with gorges and crevices hiding numerous remote pools, rivers and tenacious palms.

There are a couple of good campgrounds in the park, Kurrajong in the north and Walardi in the south.

Walardi will have you listening to helicopters skittering across the sky toting amazed tourists, but it is close to Cathedral Gorge and the best rock formations.

Kurrajong offers silent camping and a great sunset view, along with closer proximity to the Echidna Chasm and Mini Palms gorge walks.

The more adventurous can also hike deeper into the park and camp overnight, notably along Piccaninny Creek.

The less adventurous can stay at one of the luxurious Bellburn camps here, which are of the sort experienced in Africa for hundreds of US dollars per night. Good food, 3000 thread-count linens, pegasus rides; the works.

As far as what to see, the park has been nice enough identify what they call Attractions.

These include Cathedral Gorge mentioned above, which is a self-shrinkingly enormous amphitheatre of sheer cliffs that encompasses you like a toilet bowl of the Gods.

It is sufficiently clean.

The effortless 1 hour walk to get there can be complimented by the 20 minute Domes Walk from here for some added scenery.

Echidna Chasm is a chasm (surprise!) that is exceedingly narrow, blocking out the sky between 200m tall walls. The scale here is dizzying, and you will stumble through the otherworldly environment amidst boulders (that may or may not have reached the ground) until the gap is less than 1m wide.

Mind it. The gap.

And mind it at midday, because the sun at its apex will illuminate the walls in a way that you won’t want to miss. This hike is also only an hour as well.

The Mini Palms hike is a 2 hour round trip walk that ends at a beautiful valley of 150m cliffs that is crammed with Livistone Palms. There are stairs on this hike when it gets too rugged.

Last but not least is the Piccaninny Creek Walk. It is a bit misleading, because anywhere else mentioned, it will probably not be difficult to pick a ninny. This walk, however, is ninny-free, oft overlooked and extremely rewarding.

This is where you get off of the beaten path and head into the heart of the Bungle Bungle, checking in with the Visitor’s Center first. You do not have to stay overnight (but you should), and though this is definitely a more difficult hike in comparison to the walks already discussed, it is where you will feel the affinity with the environment that can only be attained away from the crowds.

And you will want to return someday, as I do now.

How’s The Drive?

Not as easy as most, but worth it.

This is, hands down, 4WD turf.

Primarily you need a good 4WD for the clearance. There are several river crossings here, and even in the dry season you will want some high clearance to get through.

In the wet, you will need a snorkel.

The turnoff for the Spring Creek Track is about 250km south of Kununurra , and it is a 53km drive to the park entrance along it from the Great Northern Highway.